Tex Knitter

It All Started...........

2007-05-10T07:34:00.000-07:00

........Wednesday evening when Jeffy was on his way out the door to return some DVD's to Hollywood video. He paused at the door with one arm leaning on the entertainment center, staring at the fireplace, deep in thought and said, "Honey, you really don't like that light over the fireplace do you". That's the fireplace to the right it's recessed with a popcorn ceiling and one swively can light in the center. I confirmed for the hundreth time that I didn't like it and he decided to do something about it. He plucked that sucker right out of the ceiling!

With that accomplished he began wielding a box cutter and in no time had cut the drywall from the ceiling and removed the popcorn. What was left was a giant rectangle of a hole in the wall. I personally didn't know where he was going with this and neither did he so at that moment we were matched.

The discovery of a 2x8 or 4x8 or whatever it is proved problematic as there was no way to remove it without compromising the integrity of the structure, meaning the house would cave in, so he decided to work around it but in what capacity he didn't know and to which I was afraid to ask.

Undecided about what he intended to end up with, what else was he to do but cut out some more dry wall? Made sense to me! Yep, an arch shaped piece was extracted from the wall in front of the fireplace, cut above the 2x whatever, and moved to the back of the hole above the stone.

The next logical step was to venture into what Jeff considers his nirvana; whipping out the power tools. Mine is kitchen appliances. So out the back door we go to saw and sawdust heaven and we cut a bunch of 2x4's. That one I got right! Back into the living room we go, industrial nail gun in tow, and up they go into the shape of the arch. Not bad.

Now this is the part of the story where I cut out. After three anti-inflamatories to kill my gout, two hydrocodones, I told Jeff I only took one, and three good vodkas I was out for the count but when I wake up we have a whole new look to this fireplace. It's got great lighting and the whole thing really pulls the room together.

A bit of finishing, some stain and varnish and we are all set.

I adore that guy!

Up, Up and Awaaaaaayyy.....

2007-05-02T07:45:00.000-07:00

.... in our beautiful, our beautiful new roooooom!

The thought of transforming a room is always fantastic. That's where the fantastic ends, at the thought. Jeff and I decided that the living room was going to be the first portion of the house that would benefit from having our little 'stamp' placed upon it and paint was the first order of business.

We both had no problem deciding what color we wanted; a warm mustard gold flat paint was the answer. After Jeff dropped his pants he came up with the calculation that we would need one gallon. In retrospect I should have dropped my pants too and carried the one. We needed two. Off to Lowes goes Jeff for the second gallon the next day.

The second can matched perfectly with the exception that they had sold him semi-gloss. After a bit of cursing in the most charming East Texas accent to be had he went back to the store to exchange it and now the re-paint job is pending.

The second portion of our Extreme Home Improvement involved taking our severly vaulted ceiling and dropping it to a level eleven feet and in the process creating a coffered ceiling to which the plans were written in ink; that means all in Jeff' head.

I must admit that little shit worked and always works damn fast and hard and he figured this would be a weekend project; ain't so.

Here is Mr. Handsome himself measuring off the wall for the project.

Note how damn sexy he is with a toolbelt! Yeh BABY!

Here's another shot from the other angle just so you realize both sides of him match.

Here he has the beams up.

Now comes the backing.......

...... and the boxes up!!

In the center of each box we now have recessed lighting!

All that remains is for us to agree on a stain color, place L-shaped trim around the outer edges of the boxes then varnish the whole thing.

Clever ain't he?????????????

We Got a Money Pit.... We Got a Money Pit... na na na na na na!!!!

2007-04-02T07:55:00.000-07:00

Yes ladies and germs we now own the cutest little mortgage to be found in the Loan Star State! The house is kinda nice too.

The following pictures were taken by my good friend and ex-neighbor, Rick, and as you will soon find out he 'aint no Ansel Adams in any stretch of the imagination but we love him even on his medication.

Keep in mind this was moving day................

Here is a pretty poor shot of one end of our living room. The fireplace and hearth are recessed into the wall.

It is so freakin' wonderful to turn on the air conditioning and sit in front of the fire.

Click on it.... it gets bigger.

Next comes the kitchen.

Anyone who knows me knows that I have a butt-load of kitchen equipment. As Jeff says, "If we have one of something, we have four". But 'cha know what? In the preliminary attempt to get organized it looks as though all of what I have is going to fit! We all know what that means; I get to buy more stuff.

Trust me, it was pretty much all put away before bed.

Now for a series of photos that depict my little monkey hanging a chandelier over the landing on the stairwell. I say monkey because we don't have a ladder and Jeff stradled the stairs with one foot on the rail and the other on the second story window sill. Note that the bookcase on the landing is 8' tall. Why his arms didn't give out I'll never know.

I, all the while, drank bourbon, twirled my rosery beads and had the phone poised to dial 911 in the event of concussion. I'm good at supervising.

The end result.

And one tired guy!

Baa Baa Black Sheep

2007-02-05T07:38:00.000-08:00

As I learned over Christmas there is an advantage to being the black sheep of the family. According to Jeff' dad being the black sheep of the family means that everyone else is 'above' you. That means that the black sheep doesn't have that far to fall! To quote Thomas, "Yep, I don't mind at all!"

So to keep the black sheep warm I'm starting him a 2x2 rib scarf. Simple yes, but we wouldn't want the black sheep looking to uppity now would we. No sirree Bob!

Isn't it odd that I knit his dad a scarf and give his mother Jack Daniel's???

The world is weird that way I guess.

Remember To Buy Minute Maid

2007-01-11T09:28:00.000-08:00

Eight years ago I ran across the cutest little citrus tree at Lowes Hardware here in Dallas and when I say citrus that was exactly what was printed on the label. "Citrus". I asked the nurseryman just what type of citrus, orange, lemon, lime, grapefruit? His answer was, ' just citrus'. As I always love a surprise I went ahead and bought my little pig-in-a-poke and hauled him home.

The tree had been grafted onto a heartier root stock and within a year the top portion died on me. Then the root stock began to grow. Eight years of nurturing later that sucker finally produced five oranges this year!

I watched them slowly turn to their bright orange color over the fall and marveled at just how pretty they were against the dark green foliage. Yesterday one had fallen off onto the patio and I picked the little guy up, sat down in one of the patio chairs and sniffed it's wonderful aroma. I then dug my nail into the rind and was greeted with the smell of fresh orange oil tickling my nose. My sensory evaluation was running in overdrive as I pulled the remaining cover from this heavenly fruit anticipating the nectar of the gods that I was about to experience.

I then pulled this fragrant globe in two, pulled off a section and popped it into my mouth.....

..... sourest freakin' orange I ever tasted!

On the knitting side I'm still working on that Debbie Bliss sweater, mittens using Justin's pattern and started a scarf for Jeff' dad using one of my favorite yarns, Berroco Ultra Alpaca. It's a 50/50 wool/alpaca blend and knits like a freaking dream. A bunch of us guys are heading up to Oklahoma City this weekend and I hope to get the scarf done over the drive up and back. The sweater and mittens will have to wait.

Best Wishes For 2007

2007-01-04T08:02:00.000-08:00

Well, well, well. Here we are in a brand new year! Since I'm writing this you can assume that I survived and as you are reading this I can assume that you did too. Good for us. My only problem is that my recovery time stretches out longer and longer each year and here it is Thursday and I'm still working on it. Lord amighty!

Our original plan was to head to a private party in Denison but then decided to stay here in Dallas and not make the drive. That was probably a damn good idea.

Here is a pic of Jeff with all the 'tude' the guy could muster New Years Eve and when I say 'tude' he had it in spades but ya can't help but love him anyway.

I want to wish you all the happiest year ever and let's see if we can make it to 2008.

When It's Christmas Time In Texas

2006-12-27T21:40:00.000-08:00

Y'all know a few months back I wrote that I thought that I would be sitting out the holidays this year considering how screwed up the summer was for me. Appearently I lied. I had one of the best Christmas' ever thanks to Mr. Jeff Pace seen here on the right. (go ahead, click on him, he loves it!)

As some of you already know Jeff and I met early October at the Pub here in Dallas and went out on our first 'date', for lack of a better description and a story I will share with just a choice few of you, that following Friday the 13th. I will have you know right here and now that Friday the 13th is not an unlucky day at all as Jeffy has turned out to be one really nice guy and I have come to think very hightly of him these past weeks.

The two of us had made plans to spend Christmas Eve together with my boss and his partner, spend the night with them watching movies and snacking around and then all of us cooking Christmas dinner at their house the following day but that plan changed when Jeff' mother asked if he would house sit for her while she went to the 'cabin' in West Texas. Being the good boy that he is he accepted and asked if I wanted to go along and 'meet the rest of the family'. I agreed ,we hopped into the car and off we went Friday afternoon destination: Emory Texas.

Please note that his last name 'Pace' is a misnomer, the little shit drives like a bat out of hell causing my right thigh to be larger than the left due to hitting my imaginary brake all the time.

An hour later we make it to Emory. Now I'm expecting a modest little house in East Texas and from the outside it was. A low profile brick structure with white trim, yes modest as it could be. It just happens to sit smack dab in the middle of 600 acres of the most beautiful Texas farmland to be had and decorated from stem to stern Texan. I mean it's beautiful. Everything you would think a Texas ranch would be. To the left is the fireplace. Again, click on it. It doesn't mind.

Here is the dining room.

The table and hutch are all weathered barnwood and believe it or not comfortable!

And now for the bedroom.

I hit my hip on that damn bed all weekend but it's cute.

But by far my favorite thing in the house, besides Jeff of course, is the Christmas 'tree'. It's a decorated 7'x6' cactus and is breathtaking.

Needless to say I was in heaven all weekend. You cannot imagine how wonderful it was to be sitting in a room heated by the stove in the fireplace, watching white horses gallop past the window in the pasture out back and just getting away from it all and looking forward to a long winters nap. But that wasn't to be.

When Jeff said he needed to visit family he darn well meant it! There are dozens of them all residing in Sulphur Springs. Saturday afternoon we celebrated with one faction of the family hosted by Granny and Grandpa Pace. That evening we did the same at Grandma Tittle' Ranch for another side of the family. Sunday rolled around and Jeff' went to his great-grandmothersby himself, I just wanted a rest. That brings us to Monday.

By far the best time I had was celebrating with Jeff' dad, Thomas and step mother, JaNae, and her side of the family. First because she is a very warm and welcoming person and second because she clued me in on where she hid the booze. That's she on the right (Jeff is the one who is not wearing the apron) and since this is supposed to be a knitting blog, that's a cable rib scarf that I knitted for him. I probably couldn't have made it without you JaNae. Thanks a million to both of you.

That takes us to Monday night when we finally drove back to Dallas and had dinner finally with the boss and his partner. I tell you I have never eaten so much over a weekend in my life.

Jeffy, I thank you for a wonderful time. Thanks for taking me to the land of sweet tea and white bread a plenty. I love you and my gout loves you too!

Been Too Gone for Too Long

2006-10-31T08:13:00.000-08:00

Boy have I neglecting this blog for almost two months now. I do have a couple of good excuses though; death and divorce. Let me tell you people both are devistating and expensive to the point I just haven't been able to keep up with all I have to do. Simply haven't felt like it.

BUT! I am recovering nicely and ready to get back to the responsible person I once was.

So look out world, I'm totally back in business!

Deep In The Panhandle Of Texas

2006-08-08T06:09:00.000-07:00

Well, yesterday I polished off the last half of Arizona, all of New Mexico and after 8 hours of driving FINALLY ended up in Amarillo. It is so good to be back in The Lone Star State.

Tired, hungry and in desperate need of a cocktail, I quickly checked into the hotel, slugged down a couple of bourbons and headed for the Big Texan Steak Ranch. It's a panhandle institution that I had passed every other time I have either been or driven through Amarillo and this time I was determined to have dinner there.

For those of you not familiar with the Big Texan it's the home of the Free 72oz. steak, so you don't need to calculate that's 4 1/2 pounds. The place is also everything that you would expect it to be in Texas; big, gaudy, loud, obnoxious and totally overdone. Along with the restaurant they have a hotel, arcade, a horse hotel if you are traveling with horses and free limo service to and from any RV park you happen to be at. The catch is that the meal is free if you can eat it within 1 hour along with a shrimp cocktail, green salad, baked potato, and dinner rolls. Overall 37,000 people have attempted this ignorance and 6,200 have accomplished it.

I ordered a 2 pound rib eye.

Only 6 more driving hours to Dallas!!! YEEEEE HAWWWW!!!!!!!!!

Arizona Highways

2006-08-07T06:38:00.000-07:00

Well folks, the problems of the past few weeks are now 632 miles behind me now. I left the middle of California yesterday, drove 10 hours and ended up here in Flagstaff, Arizona. If you are not familiar with Arizona, from the CA state line to Flagstaff is the pretty half of the state. From here on out it's all desert baby. Thank whoever, there is not much left of it across to drive.

Todays' plan is to finish off Arizona, get through all of New Mexico, but stopping in Albeuquerque at the 66 diner for lunch and end up late this afternoon in Amarillo, Texas where I will spend the night.

And you know??? There just ain't no nightlife here in AZ!

Talk to y'all when I get to Texas!

The Clogs Didn't Get Finished In Time

2006-08-01T09:57:00.000-07:00

While it is given that just as many people are born eventually die; death is a very strange thing. It's the only passage in life where ones emotions are truly, truly exposed either internally and externally. For some it's both. It amazes me how exposure to one individual affects so many people in a million little ways.

So Grandma, as you would say, you don't know your ass from a hole in the ground about the internet, I am out here telling you that you have touched me in more ways in my life than you ever could have imagined and even more than I knew as I sit and reflect. You have been the dearest friend to me all my life and I thank you for that. I will miss the all the fun we had together as well as all the arguments we got in, and thank you for admiting that you were not always right.

I thank you for your understanding, kindness, your wit, your fairness, your charm and most for instilling common sense into me. You have been a brave person in tough heart-wrenching situations and how you ever got through some of those times I will never know other than that you are a woman of exceptional fortitude.

You are truly the definition of a 'lady'. I'll miss you.

P.S. Grandma. Thanks for leaving a liquor supply! You always were the perfect hostess!

Bye

My Knitting Travels Better Than I Do!

2006-07-25T08:26:00.000-07:00

In the midst of a immediate family issue (I have a family, that may be the issue) I had to book a flight from Dallas to Sacramento. Being last minute, I was, of course, thrown on standby. The first flight that I was booked on was Monday at 9:30am. My luggage made the trip I didn't.

Then, couldn't get on the 12:30, the 3:30, the 5:45, the 7:30 and batting 0 for 6, didn't get on the 9:53pm. I'm back at DFW this morning doing the whole routine over again and praying. Praying one, what few clothes I packed in one case didn't get lost, but I can always replace those. AND WORSE, that one suitcase containing every WOP I have going doesn't! I couldn't bear that.

And if may luck were not bad enough, last night was the first meeting of a Dallas men's knitting group, and of course, I thought I would be in California but instead was whimpering that I was sitting at the airport instead of knitting along with the guys. Something I own is cursed.

(I've been wondering why Aunt Martha, who I never liked, left me that ugly ring!)

Will keep you posted if I ever see my babies again.

All Is Bliss and Frogged the Clog!

2006-07-18T13:34:00.000-07:00

THE FREAKING DEBBIE BLISS CASHMERINO ARAN CAME IN FINALLY! after ordering it April the 23rd! That crap had better knit up like angels pubes.

I think I will pick it up in October.

The clog-along seems to be a great hit. I lost my way in the middle of shaping the instep, couldn't find my mistake, and frogged the whole thing and am starting over... it sucks to be me. The good part is that I don't cry anymore over it.... it's never anything that can't be fixed one way or another.

We Be Havin' Us a Clog-Along!

2006-07-13T03:15:00.000-07:00

Yep, some of us boys over on Men Who Knit are getting together a good old fashioned cyberspace clog-along starting this Monday JULY (thank you very much Lars) 17. The pattern (Thank you Jon) isn't difficult at all and produces a great end result.

I think it will be an interesting venture to hear what yarn people will be using, it's properties, how they like knitting with it and just how these different yarns felt.

So if you aren't a member of MWN join, and join us for, what JPaul says, is MWK's first knit-along in it's history!

Want Fries With That? HELL YES!!!!

2006-07-02T08:02:00.000-07:00

Jim and I normally don't eat much fast food but once in awhile I get a craving for it and I just have to have it. Well Friday night I got that craving.

As we were driving home from Jims bar around 12:30am I said, "Honey let's stop. I want a french fry". So we swing into Jack in the Box he ordered something with his usual onion rings and I did their patty melt (turned out to be pretty mundane) and the ever so anticipated large fries.

I love ordering late night as everything comes out piping hot and as the girl hands us the bag sure enough that bag was HOT! We drive the remaing three minutes home and the smell of the onion rings is permeating the car and I am salivating over digging into the fries. We get inside and rip open the bag...........

........NOT A FREAKING FRENCH FRY TO BE HAD! That Jack's a bastard.

Disclaimer: The following clog pic is NOT my work! And even if it were my work, I would never claim to have done that ugly clog.

I finished the clogs for Jim. I'm going to take the usual before and after shots and post them. I have also started a pair for his mom and already have the first one done. She's afflicted with MS and pretty much in a wheelchair most of the time but gets out the walker every once in awhile so I have to make them non-skid.

So I'm going to take a tip from the gal who made that clog and try this Plasti Dip stuff. It's supposed to be flexible, non flaking and one of it's recommedations is for fabric, except I am NOT going to slather the stuff all over the sole and up the bumper. What I cant figure out is why this woman used grey and ended up with moon boots when the Plasti Dip comes in colors including CLEAR! Oh well.

Y'all have a happy 4th!

Attention Knitter Guys in the DFW Metroplex!

2006-07-02T07:23:00.000-07:00

I'm reposting my advertisement about getting together a mens' knitting group in the Metroplex. I've gotten a couple of leads off of it in the last few days and want to keep it sort of on top.

Sooooo... if you are out there guys get with me. So far we have about 6 guys interested to sit down and have at it! Email me @ bigdmenknit@yahoo.com

It's a Boy!

2006-06-25T07:50:00.000-07:00

Yes ladies and germs it's official. Jim has named his new coffee tree 'Sven' to honor the love of his life- Gevallia Coffee.

It's actually a really pretty plant and seems to be growing like a weed. My guess is that he will harvest about as much coffee as I will this year with the olive 'grove'.

As for what's going on in my knitworld this week, I should have the clogs wrapped up TODAY!! And then off to start another pair for his mom. I don't know why, but it just feels good to start fresh and with different colors of yarn.

Saturday my neighbor turned me on to these needles from La Knitterie Parisinne. Aren't they just about the queerest needles ever made? The tips light up so that a guy can knit in the dark. I have half a mind (and I mean that literally sometimes) to order a set and check them out. If and when I do I'll let you folks know how they work out. It just may be 15 bucks thrown down the toilet.

Well so far June has been a hot and humid one here in Dallas. I hope you all are having a good summer, staying cool, and knitting to your hearts content.

Two On One and My Fresh Balls

2006-06-15T20:27:00.000-07:00

I attended my first SnB Sunday. I know I said I was going to do the last one, but didn't get too it. Kev was to be there and give me another lesson on the "two socks at the same time on one needle thing" because I still don't have it down, and in all honesty, I have not sat down properly and concentrated on learning the damn thing. But Kev stood me up!!! Can you believe that? He had a good excuse though..... had a "date". If y'all want to know my opinion on the SnB email me....I can't say it in public.

Above is a pic of the set-up stolen from Kenny's wonderful and comprehensive tutorial on the subject.

Another thing Kev introduced to me are these cool "yarn-tainers" They really work at keeping your yarn clean, pet protected and untangled. I got mine at Target in the sewing machine section and they run about five bucks.

The yarn-tainers come in three sizes however, the Target I went to only carries the tall version and actually that works out great because they stand up in my knitting bag so that I don't have to pull balls of yarn out of my bag every time I want to knit a row or two. My balls stay as fresh as ever and now yours can too!

Hurry up! My Martini's Getting Hot! (and other mishaps)

2006-06-04T07:10:00.000-07:00

For the last couple of years I have wanted to get an olive tree for the patio and for the last couple of years everyone has reassured me that you can't grow an olive tree in Dallas. So of course I ordered one. In anticipation of my first harvest I've taken up drinking martinis.

When the tree arrived yesterday I pulled it out of the box only to discover that it was broken in half! Poor thing. The nursery assures me that even broken it will grow but they are going too replace it anyway. So maybe I will end up with 2 for 1.

And for all you out there who say it won't survive the winter, keep in mind that I have a 7ft. grapefruit tree, with fruit, out on the patio that you can't grow here either!

On the knitting front, a really great guy Kevin and I spent a good deal of time early Friday evening with him trying to teach me how to knit two socks at the same time on one circ. (By the way, thanks to 'Barbaras' Pavillion Club' for the knitting space...you make great hangovers... my liver recommends you highly) He started with showing me how to do a elastic cast on and with it being totally foreign to me it took a LARGE amount of time to cast on those damn microscopic stitches.

Then came time to progress to the knitting portion. I have never knitted on such small needles nor used such small yarn and then throw that loop de loop knitting technique in on top of it and I was lost! When I took the work out of the bag the next morning it looked like two cats had had a fight in there all night long. So I went back to knitting on the clogs.

Normally I knit while I work and it is never a problem for me, but when working the clog pattern DON'T DO IT! You have to watch this pattern line by line like a hawk. I had cast on the outter sole in the morning and was going to finish it up by the time I got off work, HAHA" Everytime I got interrupted, (imagine people wanting your attention while you are at work knitting), I lost my place in the row. I cast that sucker on three times that day.

I finally finished the sole yesterday. I got home and sat on the patio enjoying the warm but not unpleasant afternoon and started to bind the two soles together. I was within 3 stitches of finishing when the neighbor came over to get a copy of a movie he lent me. I sat the knitting down on the ground, stood up, turned to go inside to get it and as I did my toe caught the yarn and off come the stitches. Never did find them. Now I am going to quietly put it aside and get back to it when I calm down.

Clogs, Blogs and Bitches

2006-05-27T07:41:00.000-07:00

I know, I know. I've been neglecting this blog for a couple of weeks now. It hasn't been so much that nothing is going on as much as there hasn't been any knitting going on. That damn Debbie Bliss yarn still hasn't shown up and it's been a whole five weeks now.

But thanks to a very sweet guy who sent me the Fiber Trends felted clog pattern, I am off this afternoon to choose some yarn and start that project this holiday weekend. Finally I will have something back on the needles.

And with something back on the needles I am going to attend my very first SnB tommorrow! I have wanted to go several times the past couple of months but it's pretty embarrassing to show up at a SnB empty handed with nothing to knit! (boy would I feel stupid) So we shall see how that goes.

Have a great holiday weekend!

Meanwhile... Charlotte and Miranda Were Sipping Cocktails at the Newest Hotspot in Manhattan....

2006-05-15T05:05:00.000-07:00

....... (since I got the laptop, I've always wanted to write that.)

Well folks, all is NOT Bliss. Nope, it's been four weeks now and she still hasn't coughed up that yarn! I wonder if she's sick that would explain things. I hope so. And I'm beginning to hope that it's catostrophic.

With that not happening, I think I'll take this time and maybe do a couple of other things I have in the works. The first is sewing up this set of 1941 underwear. I got the pattern off ebay and think they would be kinda nice to lounge around the house in.

The next, is perhaps making a new knitting bag. I have used the pattern in SnB but this time I want it a bit wider than the measurements she gives. Also I think that I'll put in a couple of interior pockets, one wide so that I can slide a copy of my pattern in and one on the other side for the catch-all Altoids tin that houses stitch markers, yarn needle, tape, etc.. It's a pain in the ass to keep fishing around the bottom of the bag for it.

Well I hope all you mother's out there (and you know who you are!) had a great Mothers' Day.

And as we like to say here in Texas.........

Arrivederci y'all!

So I Wait and Wait and Wait

2006-05-06T05:05:00.000-07:00

Yeppers, still no sign of the yarn yet, I wanted to be able to knit in my old age but I didn't imagine getting there waiting to start this project!

In the meantime, I thought I would take on a simple fast weekend project whilst the yarn commeth, so I decided on doing a quick Harry Potter bookscarf for the Potter freak in my life.

That's the pattern pic not the one I'm working on.

It called for knitting in the round with cotton. I knit a few rounds and ended up frogging it as it was not turning out to be a bookmark at all....but a thick-assed book wedge. So I changed it to a 1x1 rib, so it would lay flat and have about 10 rows to go. (there are only 16 stitches to a row).

And speaking of the Harry Potter Freak............. HERE HE IS!!!!!

Yes ladies and germs. It's the husband! All 190 pounds of cuteness of him.

Folks, believe it or not, we have not had one argument in 6 years. And how do we do that you ask? We simply ignore each other! (kidding) We actually ENJOY each others company and, at least for me, want to be together as much as we can.

Yesiree, I love the guy. Each night, when we go to bed, I put my head where his chest would be, if he had one, throw my arm around his manly stomach and thank ____________(fill in the blank to suit your own purpose) that he was thrown my way and that I didn't throw him back!

Well, I Ordered the "Crap"

2006-04-23T05:54:00.000-07:00

Yep, after all that research on Miz Bliss' "cashmerino aran" the denizens of the LYS talked me into ordering it after all. They assure me that they have eperienced no problems with the yarn and I hope they are right. Here she be:

If I knit up 22 skeins of it and it doesn't hold up, I'm gonna be pissed. I hope to get it about a week from now and get started on the thing. It's on size 6 and 7 needles so I know it's going to take awhile.

I'm still working on getting a men's knitting group started here in The Big 'D'. I've been conversing with a nice guy named Scott up in Plano and I have to retouch base with Kevin here in Dallas. And then start hitting some of the local knitting groups and get to recruiting some people as well has start a poster campaign at the local shops. I'll get it together somehow.

AND, as a stroke of luck would have it, Phases bar is putting in a lounge area towards the back of the building and the manager (who happens to be the hubby) has agreed to let us meet there. Hopefully I can get a group together in the approx. month it will take them to remodel.

All is right with the world today.

Decided on the Project!

2006-04-21T17:23:00.000-07:00

And here it is..........Stay tuned for the story. It's a Debbie Bliss Pattern.

Well, it's been a whole ten days since I last posted. Damn, it goes fast. I'm typing as the husband, Jim, is watching " Deal or No Deal". Did you know that Valtrex will not inhibit the spread of genital herpes??? It says so on TV. All's ok as he turns a blind eye to my kitting obsession. Of course, I have to remove his glasses and poke his eyes out for that to happen. But ya gotta do what you gotta do.

Here's the Bliss story.....

I found this pattern on the internet and really liked it. I printed the image and gave it to my local yarn wench. The pattern is named "Guernsey" so she looked it up and Miss Bliss's web site says that it is done in DK Cotton. No problem. I order 25 skeins of cotton only to find out that Miss Bliss has a half dozen sweaters that are by the same name. This one is done in her Cashmerino.

In research, Cashmerino has the great reputation for being a "dream to knit with" but aparently does not hold up in longetivity. So that's out.

I cancelled the cotton and am now in search of a replacement for the yarn.

I hate making decisions

April 11, 2006

2006-04-11T06:32:00.000-07:00

Well, I have been mulling over several "personality" options for this page over the past several days and I've just decided to hell with it I'll merely sit down and write about whatever is, or not, that I happen to be up to.

And the current things are:

1. Starting some new project.
2. Trying to organize a mens knitting group here in the Dallas Metroplex.

As for number one, I'm looking toward doing a sweater (finally one for myself) called "Stevie" from the now no longer Rowan Cork Collection. All I have to do is make the yarn choice and get going but for some reason I haven't had the time to get to the LYS, imagine that!

Now number two is really turning out ot be literal NUMBER TWO!

The idea getting together a mens knit group is pretty much in its infancy. So far I have just a couple of guys that I have had email contact with but have never met and would like to get a couple more or a couple of guys interested in learning.

And so far, have no idea about a time or location and merely need to get off my butt and get organized. So, if y'all know some guys in the DFW area send 'em my way.